


Hymn of the Sea

by GentianBalboa



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, I don't know if i will do any ships, I'll tag characters as they appear - Freeform, What is luffy?, but sorta does, canon? i don't know her, luffy is not human and doesn't know it yet, we will see how things progress on there own
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23494477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GentianBalboa/pseuds/GentianBalboa
Summary: There are things that someone knows without being told. For Luffy those things are, that they were not meant to be made of flesh, something is wrong with the world, if no one is going to fix it they will, and they shall not be contained.Luffy will be free once more.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was reading [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884211/chapters/34469111) fic and thought 'oh cool Pirates of the Caribbeans lore in one piece.' Then my mind spiraled out of control and I started thinking of all sorts of sea-based movies existing in one piece and accidentally made an AU.  
> I just gotta roll with it.  
> But in all seriousness go read [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884211/chapters/34469111) fic. It is really good.

There are things in the world that a person just knows without having to be told. If you drop something it will fall. The sun will always rise. The moon will be different each night. They are too big for a body.

Just knowing something _is_ , doesn't explain the _why_. Knowing something will fall does not tell you why it always happens. It does not explain why the sun never changes even though the moon does. It does not explain how they just know that a body is to small for them.

But they know.

And it hurts.

And they wail as they breathe for the first time, for they know something is missing. 

A part of them is gone and this tiny soft thing they are now is not meant for them.

They cannot move in this and even people are larger than them now. 

They are contained and it _hurts_.

* * *

As their body grows the pain does not lessen. There is more space but it is only a sliver.

From the moment their legs could hold the weight of their body, they ran.

They may be stuck in something too small for them, but they would not be still.

* * *

Understanding people was simple for them.

Understanding people was hard for them.

They could feel when people were in pain; when they were happy or sad. But the strange noises people made with their mouths were something else entirely.

They were starting to understand. But it was still felt foreign in a way that they did not know how to express.

They know they were ever meant to speak with a mouth. They know that they were meant to be felt. They were meant to move and others would understand.

But they cannot move. There is no room to move in a body.

* * *

They learn that people call them 'Luffy', that people think this is their name.

It is not.

They cannot remember what it is.

But they know that is not their name.

They allow themselves to be called it though.

They will allow it until they remember what their name truly is.

* * *

Luffy had learned of time.

They had learned what it's passage meant.

Luffy had learned that they were four and time was _slow_.

* * *

Luffy had learned peace at five. They had used their feeble legs to take them to the edge of what the person took care of them called the sea.

Standing in the water, their body chilled to its very core.

For the first time, they did not hurt.

They felt _whole_.

* * *

Luffy had found another in the cold waves of the sea.

Not a person but something other.

This other was easy to understand. She moved and Luffy understood. She felt and Luffy felt with Her.

She gave Luffy things.

Shiny things, dull things, things from places that Luffy's small body could not reach.

And Luffy felt at peace.

* * *

Something was wrong with the world. It was just something they knew. 

The air was wrong.

There was a rot slowly infecting the world.

Luffy knew there should be more others. Others like She who he met in the sea. Others who were half other and half people.

There should have been others who were _older_. Who were a _part_ of them.

But there weren't.

And it was wrong.

* * *

Luffy hated being in a body. It hurt so much. They would try to spend as much time in the sea, exchanging with She, but sometimes people would stop them.

They were too small to be in the water, the people would say as the dragged them away.

Luffy knew that. It was because they were so small that they needed to be in the water to not be.

But the people did not understand.

They forced them to remain small and whispered soft words as they endured the pain that the people had forced upon them.

Luffy hated this.

Luffy wanted to be free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has gotten out of hand. I wrote creation myths for this. Fair warning, this does not follow the canon myths/story of any of the series I mention. I am grabbing what I like from a bunch of sea-based movies and trying to stitch them together like Frankenstein.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20628674/chapters/48983384#workskin).
> 
> Slight tw for mentions of blood and loss of limb.

There is quite a lot that Shanks knows. Far more then he could ever list. But he knows that the important things are to honor the code, always have booze, and if someone lays a claim you respect that.

The old ways may be falling out of use but that did not mean they were _gone_.

It just meant more rookies would unknowingly break unspoken laws and pay the price without understanding why.

Shanks knew to respect the old ways.

So when Shanks docked at a small port in the East Blue - in hopes of getting more rum since there was none left on the ship - he expects nothing more than a boring short rest at a small village. He is taken aback when the first thing that he sees when setting foot on the dock is a child ~~he hopes~~ asleep on the beach with the water gently rocking him. Shanks's first instinct was to make sure the kid was alright. He may be a pirate but he was not a monster ~~he has already seen enough dead children~~.

He reaches out with his Haki and relief fills him when he finds the kid breathing. The relief is short-lived when his Haki picks up what is around the kid.

At first glance, Shanks had thought the beach to be rocky, but he realizes that the child is surrounded by crabs, _white crabs_. He nearly tells his crew to get back on the ship. He knows what those crabs are, _who_ they belong to, and he knows that they are better left alone. 

Shanks is many things but he is not crazy enough to get on the bad side of the sea itself.

But the child never stirs. 

And Shanks cannot leave.

He is careful as he approaches the child. Trying not to disturb any of the crabs littering the beach. He does not have to try hard to maneuver around them, for as he approaches they scurry out of his path. 

Shanks crouches down next to the kid and places his hand on the kid's forehead. His stomach twists at how cold the kid is.

"Hey kid," Shanks calls as he shakes the child. "This is not the place for a nap."

The child cracks one eye open at him and Shanks nearly laughs. The kid looks like a wet kitten trying to glare at him. 

"Best place for naps," the brat argues. Shanks disagrees. The brat is pale and his voice sounds hoarse. It is not a far leap to guess that the brat has been out here for several hours.

Shanks can do nothing but laugh. The kid is a strange one. A tug at his pant leg catches his attention. One of the crabs had grabbed hold of him and is trying to pull him inland. Shanks understands, it would be hard not to when it was being spelled out so easily for him.

"Kid how about you guide me to where a bar is and I'll let you tell me about all the great napping places here?"

The kid puffed up his cheeks in a pout. "You're the only one who gets anything from that."

Shanks smiles down at the kid. "I'm a pirate kid, we're known for being greedy."

The kid's eyes light up at his words and he bolts up to sit up. The kid wobbles, obviously dizzy from the sudden movement, and Shanks puts a hand on the kids back to steady him.

"You've been to sea," the kid states with elation.

"Yep." The kid is silent as his face twist in concentration. It takes a minute, Shanks does not doubt that the kid's mind is foggy from dehydration.

"I'll tell you bout all the best places to nap, if you tell me bout all the cool things you've seen at sea." The kid has a serious air around him. Like he is trying to make a deal that has the weight of the world and not over something as childish as naps. 

Shanks laughs loudly. "That sounds like a far trade! You got yourself a deal!"

The kid looks satisfied before he attempts to struggle to his feet. The kid is unsteady and can't keep his balance, causing him to fall into the sand. Shanks picks the kid up and starts towards the town.

Shanks knows this will not be a boring stop.

* * *

It did not take Shanks long for him to realize Luffy was strange. 

Sure, there first meeting had been odd but it hadn't been anything far from the realm of possibility. It was common knowledge for those who knew of the old ways that She who commanded the seas was fond of children.

Her taking a likeness to one that found her waters the best place to nap? That sounded like just the brand of weirdness that She would like.

But it was not Her momentary show of fondness that Shanks found strange.

Luffy was slow.

Not mentally. The kid understood more then Shanks thinks a six-year old should. Enough that it draws attention to the fact that Luffy knows things he should not. Shanks just to test this had told him a story about Island in the clouds. The kid did not question it and smiled from where his head was resting on the counter. In a dazed voice, Luffy had asked him if Shanks had liked the shells he found up there. Luffy had asked if Shanks had found them _useful_.

Shanks did not become a Yonko by being dull. The kid knew more then he let on. But the kid did not seem aware of how much he knew. Any straightforward questions Shanks asked ("Kid, what's your favorite dial?" "What's a dial?") were met with confusion and it was _genuine_. 

Shanks had been keeping his Haki tuned into the kid when he asked. Shanks may not have the most precise observation Haki in the world, but he could at least tell when someone was lying to him.

And the kid was not.

Yet, when Shanks told stories of his adventures, the kid would get lost in them. He would get a glazed look in his eyes and know more then he should. 

It was strange.

But Luffy was slow physically.

The kid's movements were stiff and done with precision. Luffy moved like he was walking barefoot on glass. If the kid could avoid it he wouldn't move at all.

Luffy had freaked out several of his crew when he had just laid down in the middle of talking to them. The kid did not move for _hours_. Not even a twitch.

Shanks had his Doctor look at the kid and Doc could not find anything wrong with him.

Which was worrying.

Since Shanks had asked Luffy why he liked to impersonate a sloth and the kid had told him that sometimes his body hurt too much to move. Luffy had told him that was why the sea was the best place to nap. Since it stops hurting when he was in it.

Something strange was going on and Shanks had no clue what.

* * *

It was Benn who solved the problem in the end. Albeit accidentally.

He had been carving seastone bullets when the kid had asked to see the stone. Benn had humored the kid and let him play with a piece that had yet to be carved.

That was all it took for the kid to start running around like crazy.

Shanks almost wishes that the kid would go back to being calm, he was a menace now. 

Almost. 

Seeing Benn trying to undo the unique braids the kid had _somehow_ managed to put in his first mate's hair when he was sleeping was fucking hilarious.

Though the lecture the Mayor had given him when he found out they pierced Luffy's ears - so that the kid wouldn't have to carry the seastone around - was annoying. 

* * *

Shanks underestimated just how much trouble the kid would get into now. 

How the kid had managed to get on the wrong side of a bunch of bandits, Shanks did not know or care. What mattered was one of those bandits had the gall to point a gun at someone Shanks liked.

It did not take much for his crew to get rid of the bandits. But amidst the chaos, one of them had run off with Luffy.

Shanks should have known that the man leading them was a coward - he knew that anyone who would pick a fight with a kid that barely reached his knees had to be one - but he underestimated how much of one he was.

It was a miracle Shanks had gotten to Luffy in time. The Sea King had ripped the man to shreds and Shanks had barely managed to get Luffy away from its jaws. Shanks forced his Haki onto the creature and it fled.

Luffy was safe.

The kid was safe.

Nothing else mattered.

* * *

Blood.

It soaked their waters.

Covered their skin.

They could taste iron, smell it.

They had claimed this man.

This man was theirs.

He couldn't die.

They would not let him.

* * *

Shanks had no idea what was happening. 

One moment Luffy was fine, still and frozen from shock, but fine. The next the kid was screaming. Shanks figured the kid had realized what was happening. Seeing a man lose an arm would be frightening for any child, no matter how strange the kid was.

But the sound kept getting louder and louder. Until it hurt.

The waves had slammed against him and pulled them under.

Shanks clung to Luffy with his remaining arm and tried to make it to the surface. 

But his body burned.

He gasped as the pain seared through him and felt the water fill his lungs.

Shanks could hear someone scream.

He wasn't sure whether it was Luffy or himself.

* * *

Shanks woke up in his bed. 

On his ship. 

Not dead.

Shanks forced himself to sit up. He grimaced at the feeling of his clothes. He was covered in sweat. 

He wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to think of something, anything that could explain what had happened.

Maybe Luffy had a devil-fruit? But if that was the case the seastone earring Benn had made him would have only made the kid more tired, not energetic.

He sighed loudly and leaned forward to rest his head on his palm.

Maybe Luffy had latent Haki? Shanks had met a few kids that had awoken observation young. Luffy might have awoken conquers Haki? But that would not have explained why Shanks felt his whole body burning from the inside out.

It took Shanks a moment to notice.

He would blame it on being tired.

Shanks was sitting up in bed. Leaning on his right arm to keep him steady. His face was in his left hand.

The hand that he lost.

A hand that should not be there.

* * *

Shanks left the Island.

He no longer had a hat but he had an oath that he would get it back.

Shanks had met a kid favored by She who commands the sea on a small island in the East Blue. 

He made a bet on the kid and lost an arm. 

He made a bet on the kid and got it back.

Shanks could not wait to see what the kid would do as a pirate.

For all those who sail on the open waters are children of the sea.

Even if that is more literal for Luffy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shanks your not wrong but your thinking too _small_.


	3. Chapter 3

It is not long after Shanks leaves that Luffy hears something.

A small voice calling out for them. Pleading for them.

Luffy follows it.

It leads him deeper into the island and through a dense forest.

He finds a child there. Freckles covering the older ~~younger~~ boy's face.

For a moment they cannot breathe. 

It is faint but they can feel it.

The heat of flame, the soft feeling of the sun on skin. The taste of ash in their mouth. 

It is a weaker version of _Them_. Barely a silver in comparison. But they know.

This is a child bond to Their line. How they miss them. The ones that have become lost ~~stolen~~.

They take a breath to steady themselves and they approach the boy.

* * *

Luffy knows They would have loved this child. The child is like a wounded animal. But he is filled with fire. It burns and screams that he is alive.

The child will go far.

But they will be their's.

The child called out to them first.

The child longed for the sea.

They claimed all those who would call their waters home.

* * *

It is not an easy feat getting the child, Ace, Portgas D Ace, they learn, to trust them.

Luffy chases Ace down and pins him in a hug.

And Luffy sings in a language long forgotten in the world. They sing of their waters and of the freedom that comes with them.

Ace stops struggling. He sits there and listens. They know that Ace does not comprehend the words they sing, but with the way Ace's soul starts to sing along, they know that Ace understands.

If Luffy's shirt is wet afterward it is not mentioned.

* * *

Ace is calmer now.

Not as angry as before.

Ace asks him a question that Luffy does not understand.

"What would you do if Gold Roger had a son?"

"I came here because I heard you, not him. Why should he affect my decisions?"

Ace had freaked out, apparently, Luffy was not supposed to know about that.

But they know all of the children who call their waters home. "It didn't matter that he was Gol D Roger's son."

"Of course it does! I am a devil child! I shouldn't have been born!"

"Who dared to tell you that!"

* * *

Ace had brought them another child that longed for the sea. 

Luffy had wrapped him in their arms and welcomed him.

* * *

They had mixed feelings about humans.

There were those who they loved. Those who claimed the waters as home and who souls sang of freedom. Those who understood what it meant to be on their waters. Those who they claimed as theirs.

There were humans that while they were not theirs, claimed by one of their others, who they liked. Those who were of the earth, of flames, of the sky. Claimed by their counterparts but still enjoyable.

Then there were humans they hated. Filthy things. A walking festering wound that rotted and decayed all that its dirty hands touched. A horrible greedy thing that took things that did not belong to it in a futile attempt that it would satisfy the endless hunger it felt.

They hated those types of humans.

And those rotten things had tried to take from them.

Someone that they claimed.

The waters had returned Sabo to them and they treated the burns.

They sang to him as they laid cloth drenched with fresh water on his wounds.

They sang as a storm raged outside the treehouse.

* * *

Years later, many around the world would wonder how a storm that large could have happened in the Blue Seas.

Years later, many would still wonder how a single storm could wipe a whole city off the map and yet leave the rest of the Island untouched.


	4. Chapter 4

The sound never really starts.

It has always been there.

A far off pleading in the distance.

It is much too far for them to reach yet.

The flesh they are made of is far too _soft_ for them to reach the source of the pleading. 

They cannot ignore it.

Pleading for a home, for a moment of safety.

Begging for their aid.

They will _not_ ignore it.

* * *

They stand in the shallows of the waves and move as much as they can. It is not much but it is enough to be felt, understood. 

And She answers.

The waters twist and roar as She moves.

She brings them the one who cried out so desperately.

Luffy reaches out their arms and pulls her from the waters.

Her face is pale and she does not stir as Luffy pulls her to the shore. They know she is bound to the earth. They can feel the slight hum of Their power in her bones but it does not matter.

She called out to them. She called their waters home.

Their claim was better.

* * *

It is hard for them to carry her up the mountain. She is several heads taller than him and while her weight is nothing to him, it is hard to keep her steady and make sure that they do not drag her feet.

"Where the fuck have you been?" They hear Ace yell out from above them. Luffy struggles to title their head up slightly enough to be able to see him from the corner of their eye.

"I went to go get Robin."

Ace raises an eyebrow at them. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

"I heard her calling."

Ace's eyes widen. "Like you heard me calling?"

"Yep."

Ace sighs loudly. "Do you want a hand?"

Luffy smiles.

* * *

When Robin wakes her mind is muddled. It takes her a moment to remember everything that happened. The pirate ship she was hiding on. The storm that sunk it. Falling in the chilling depths of the sea.

She wakes and finds herself in an unfamiliar place. Robin does not know what luck pulled her from the depths but she needs to plan. For all she knows she could be on a marine base. 

"Oh, your up already." A young boy around what she guesses is fourteen. He is covered in faded burn scars that stretch across half of his face. She can only imagine young he must have been when he got them for them to have healed so much. "You looked exhausted so we thought you would sleep longer."

She is exhausted. But she can't let them know that. One moment of weakness would be all it would take for them to think they could attack her. Robin knows that she would not be much of a fight now.

"Where am I," She puts on a gentle smile and speaks softly. If she had been found by some good-natured kid, probably more kids based on his earlier words, she might still have a chance. If she can convince them that she was on a passenger ship that got caught in a storm she might have a chance to recover before anyone figure out who she is. 

"Dawn Island," He says as he shoves a glass of water at her. Robin accepts it and nearly chokes on the contents when she processes his words. Dawn Island is in the East Blue. She had been in the Grandline. Robin has no clue how she could have survived a storm large enough to carry her across the Redline.

A shift at her side cause Robin to look down. She finds another boy asleep there. He looks younger than the one with the scars. Robin finds it odd that she did not notice him immediately. She should have noticed some curled up next to her.

Robin does not let the blonde boy leave her awareness as she moves her hand to wake the younger boy. Before her hand reaches him he wakes with a jolt. The black hair boy looks up at her and beams. "Your awake!" He cheers as he launches himself at her.

He is to fast. Robin won't have time to defend nor dodge. She braces herself to take the oncoming blow.

But nothing comes.

The boy tenderly wraps his arms around her in a hug. He pulls her head to rest on his shoulder and gently rubs circles on her back. "Your safe now," he hums softly.

His skin is cold where Robin can feel it. It feels like cold water and yet, somehow it is warm.

Robin thinks that it might be strange. For someone to feel both warm and cold. But she cannot remember the last time someone held her this gently to be sure.

She cannot remember when, or if anyway has ever held her like this and told her she was safe.

Robin cannot understand why she believes him when he says it.


	5. Chapter 5

Nami will not cry.

She has done enough of that in her life.

She is sick of it.

Nami takes all the pain and tears she has and stuffs them in a box buried under the tangerines in Blumeires garden.

She will weep again when she is free.

And if she cries inside her heart no one has to know.

* * *

But someone did know.

Had heard her sobs.

Nami has no idea how this boy could have heard her. Why she _believes_ him when he says that he did.

He is the strangest thing she has ever seen.

She does not see a boy when he moves but the ocean.

Nami sees the ebb and flow of the tide as he stands.

She feels the sudden chill of a storm when he smiles.

Smells the salt when he wraps her arms around her.

Nami is found by a boy made by the water, but she knows deep down that cannot be true. He is just a boy. A human being who will die if he fights Arlong.

Nami cannot let him fight the fishman.

* * *

Her cries fall on deaf ears. None of his companions listen.

Ace scoffs and tells her that Luffy is not that weak.

Sabo laughs and tells her that it will be okay and that she does not need to worry.

Robin puts a gentle hand on her shoulder and tells her to have faith.

_Faith_? Faith in what? That he die for a cause he has no business interfering in? She does not want to have faith in that!

Robin smiles and says nothing more.

* * *

Nami can’t breathe when she arrives at Arlong park. She is drowning on dry land and only she knows the weight of this.

She expects to find his broken body laid upon the ground at Arlong's feet. Like so many who have challenged him before.

But she does not.

What she finds is not the work of a human.

The fishmen are spread upon the ground. Sitting on their knees, hands clutched in front of them in a mockery of prayer.

They are dry.

Not in the sense of moisture in their skin, but void of liquid completely.

Even from the gates, she can tell by their shriveled forms.

The boy turns to look at her and Nami is certain that he is not a boy or even a girl. What stands before her is not human but something more.

Something that she cannot put into words.

The face stretches and Nami sees an undertow. Feels as it latches onto her and starts to pull her under the waves.

Nami has been drowning on dry land for years and as she is pulled under the waves of something far greater and denser than anything she has ever felt, or known before, she breathes for the first time.

And she knows for certain that the boy she had met was not made by the water, but the water was made of him.


End file.
